Mystan Monks
Mystan Monks (ミスタン モンク misutan monku) is the religious order within the country Mys who is in charge of the leading followers and practitioners of the national religion "Concordis", and the former government of Mys back in the ancient recorded times of the country. With a headquarters stationed in the ancient and religious city of Paborito, the Mystan Monks practice in the hills of the snowy grounds of Mys, mainly on the surface of one of Mys' largest mountains known as Mount Katiwala, which is considered sacred ground by the Mystan Monks. The Mystan Monks are one of the eldest orders in the world and one of the most influential thanks to its age the many participants and members of the order that has acclaimed fame, fortune, and status across the world. Religion Concordis focuses on the worship of an abundance of deities, each typically having their own Concordis Shrine of varying size, depending on the importance of the deity. These deities are said to pass on their essence into a variety of substances, like trees, rocks, animals, or even people can possess the spirit of the deity. But their true soul rests at a place where Concordis Shrines have been erected as an offering to "house" the spirit and give Concords a place to offer their prayers and gifts to the spirit in which is enshrined there. The shrines themselves are believed to help bridge the gap between the deity and the physical world, as the shrine grows in power from the offerings given to the spirit, who in turn give its energy into maintaining the shrine. It is because of this that many speak to the overwhelming energy and beauty alive in a Concordis Shrine, a phenomena that inspire a sense of wonder and awe. With a deity each holding their own specific purpose, examples being a god for education, a goddess for agriculture, and many more; there are a variety of temples build across Mys that Concords can go to offer prayer, or even monetary offerings to the gods to ask for help in whatever troubles face their lives. Prayer to the gods can be done anywhere, however, but are typically done at shrines in order to be as close to the deity as possible to ensure their thoughts are heard. When not at a shrine, however, prayer beads are used to help Concords meditate and enter a state of heightened being so that they can better sense the presence of the spiritual dimension and send their prayers to the gods. These prayer beads are also used to help distinguish Concord Monks from regular practitioners, as Concord Monks will generally have a large red bead in the center of their prayer beads that are made from the shrine in which they serve. This is believed to give them a better connection with the deity of that shrine, due to having a bead infused with the power of the spirit itself. Mount Katiwala is held as sacred ground in Concordis, as this location is said to be closest to the spirit realm, or Tentoji. The ascension of this mountain is said to bring one into Tentoji, where the gods can manifest themselves if one is of pure heart and devout faith. Many Concords from all over Mys travel to Mount Katiwala annually to offer their prayers to the gods and to achieve a deeper spiritual understanding of themselves and how the gods wish them to live their lives. Art of the Mystan Monks When a monk begins their training they are to choose between three types of paths that the monk may choose from in order to learn the ways they can manipulate their Manus energy into a sort of magic, these three paths are known as the Purist Path which utelises the pure form of the Manus energy into their attacks and is the most natural path that the monks can take, which is a reason to why most of the monks in Paborito choose to follow this enlightened path, with many starting off at an early age in order to learn the most they can from this path. The Elemental Path which uses the Manus energy to cast elemental spells through the use of severe body tampering and configuring as to allow the converting of Manus into the elements as well as changing the user's body in order to be able to cast such feats. And the *'Purist Path' (エレメンタル パス erementaru pasu) Is the utilisation of the pure Manus energy which originates from the user's body. *'Elemental Path' (エレメンタル パス erementaru pasu) Is the path where a monk chooses to use their Manus energy to cast magic from the elemental path of the Art of the Mystan Monks, which forces the practicing monk to sacrifice vast amount of the time to study and practice this treacherous path as they learn how to basically create the element right from their fingertips. The elemental path is certainly the most dangerous of all the paths that can be chosen as it forces the mage to change the way their body functions in order to be able to cast some of the magics available to them, going through extreme lengths to be able to be sure that they can be capable of such magic. From training their body immensely to taking strange experiments on their body to do so, the elemental path really is one of the most hardcore branches of the Mystan Art. Notable Members